Leaving Me Behind
by JadedFoxFire
Summary: Walking a fine line between night and day, don't you think?" He asked, and I turned, angry. "Where I do and do not walk is none of your concern." He laughed, coming closer. "Oh, but it is..." Excerpt. Can Bethany pick up the pieces this time?
1. Prelude

Prelude

_A/N: Yep, it's back. I know, I'm a pain, but hey! Where's the fun in life if you can't have a little fun now and again, mmh?  
At any rate, it's up by request by a friend, don't ask who, I have plans…*insert evil laughter and dramatic music here.*  
Again, please, please, please be patient with me. I'm coming off an X-Men hype incurred by one of my other friends, so please excuse my lack of work, progress or otherwise noted creativity…I'm slow and I procrastinate a lot. Those of you who've read my stories before probably know this just a _**little** _too well by now.  
Anyways, please review, standard policy applies (No update until I have three reviews or better.) I'll try to keep up on replies and updates (weekly if the reviewers are doing their jobs (please and thank you)) until then…a story awaits._

**Bethany Hamilton**

Blood.

It's the center of life for all living creatures. It gives the cells oxygen and nutrients, carrying away wastes and restoring the body's functions. Essentially, it is the very life of everything, from humanity, to even the smallest insect and bug.

Without it, there is no life.

Humans.

They have walked the earth for thousands of years. They have accomplished many feats within their short life spans and overcome many obstacles. They adapt and grow, evolve and think, analyzing and choosing between right and wrong. They've devised clever ways to evade the darkness of the night and dispel their fears.

But they are still prey.

My name is Bethany Isabelle Hamilton. Since I was seven, I have Hunted the same creatures Humanity will not acknowledge. I do so out of a need to find the answers to the questions that have plagued me since the murder of my family. I will not kill without reason, will not kill without information. I walk among the shadows and doubts, holding onto a fine line between wandering a path in the twilight and morning, and stepping over the border into midnight.

I am a solo Huntress, refusing to risk someone else's life for my own. Even then, there are many who have died on my account I have learned not to fear blood or death, or even the beings I hunt.

Instead, I have come to fear the parts of myself I have left behind and must now pick up again. This is my story, twisted as it, and it's time I told it.

_A/N cont'd.: Okay, so, again, standard policy. Three reviews or more, and I update. Two reviews, and no update (unless I've had way too much sugar…but that's a 'special case' scenario, which we are _not_ getting into). _

_Thanks everyone!_

_~Hugs 'N' Cookies_


	2. 01: Imagery

One: Imagery

White lights dotting a pitch-black screen of endless velvet. A silver sliver of crescent hanging in the tapestry of the sky, casting enough light for thieves and assassins to see by, while the true Hunters are already long in bed, patiently waiting the early morning hours to hunt again.

Many people have that image deeply ingrained in their minds, even if they don't realize it. Hunters all seem to look either at the horrible, seeing only bloodstains and gore, while others simply view it as 'there' instead of 'here.' I try hard to be one of those 'there' people, but even I have to admit the night tends to lean heavily on death and tragedy. It's one of the reasons people are jumpier at night, because of the flow of blood that their senses can just barely feel.

Looking out at the partially sleeping city, I see only strings of neon lights and shadows too dark to be only an absence of light. It was just now creeping up on eleven, and most of the nightlife in the city waiting above the streets patiently for a quiet moment to set into action. Across the rooftops, I can see at least three Teams of Hunters, as well as several solo Hunters such as myself. A kind of balance hangs in the air, the Vampires and other beings we Hunt waiting to see _which_ side makes the first move, just as the Hunters wait for their opposition to move.

The Irony of this is, few realize that the movements have already begun, and many will miss their chances to snag their kills and paychecks before retiring for the customary hour while the Vampires feed.

Below the rooftop I was currently standing on, drug dealers and rapists were dragged into the shadows by murderers. From there, the murderers were dragged back into the shadows they believed themselves to be safe from. In honesty, I know I should stop this mad cycle, but something in my heart compels me to stay where I stand, merely watching the streets below.

A scream attracts my attention, and I turn my silver-grey eyes towards the sound. Next to the building, running for her life, I see a woman. Behind her, invading on territory (against Council rules), attacking her (against general don't hurt the innocent rules) and shifting in the open (against Network rules), was a werewolf. I sighed and waited until the woman had passed under me, then fell forward off the building.

I've been hunting for little over twelve years, and even then, my timing has not improved much with age, experience, or the painful scars I ended up with along the way. Jumping—or falling from—the roof of a building _is_ the quickest way down, and the most painful. Hunters (whether from a pure line or from a mixed line) have a higher resistance to injury and pain than just a straight human. Even so, being from a nearly pure bloodline of Hunters and Huntresses, the impact of my feet slamming into the ground in front of a very pissed off werewolf was jarring, to say the least.

My reactions were off because of the impact. I realized as I landed on my back, that my timing was off. Swearing, I rolled and grabbed my pistol, aiming and firing. One of the bullets hit the Were' just behind his tail, and he yelped, turned, and leapt. By that time I realized I had made much smarter choices than jumping off buildings to reach my targets.

He howled, and leapt for me. My reactions were still off, and as I rolled, his fangs snapped just inches to the right of my head. I fired again, and this time he yelped, then slid to a stop, dripping blood mixed with mercury. I stood up to face him at my full 5'5 ½" height, knowing he probably wasn't going to be impressed. I'd learned the hard way that Werewolves (and Shifters in general) take how tall you are, seriously. To date, I had yet to meet a Shifter who wasn't at least 5'7". It wasn't the first time I'd considered wearing heels for Hunting.

The Were' growled, and I snorted, aiming my gun again. "Oh shut up." I grumbled quietly, and fired when he leapt for me.

The bullets found his heart with pinpoint accuracy, bursting on contact and releasing the mercury held inside a small chamber in the bullet. Silver won't kill a Werewolf, but mercury will stop its heart every time. The myths of silver killing Werewolves probably came from the idea of mercury being 'liquid silver.' I sighed and pulled out a match, striking it against the ground and tossing it on the body, which took to the flames instantly as it crumpled into ash. I've never understood why Dark Creatures burn so well.

That was on the first kill of my night, as I knew it would be. I might have been young, but I was not idiotic and naïve. Somethings are just part of life, and I'd learned too long ago that taking other's lives would be a part of mine until I died. Hunters, for all their skill, didn't live very long in the first place, much less have any time to try and break free from the cycle that consumed them. Either they lived long enough to have children, or they died and left behind only a decayed corpse.

A few succumbed to the lure of a bite, the taste of a Vampire's blood, and turned away from Hunting. Many died in the course of a fight. Others, simply took their own lives when their scars and battles overwhelmed their minds. The fact of the matter was that living as murderers weighed on most people, no matter their reasons for killing, or the species they killed. Hunters were no exception to that general conception.

Walking along the streets after Midnight, I sighed as I came across the body of a young child, murdered, then avenged by a Vampire. The girl's neck had been snapped, and she'd been stabbed multiple times. A pile of ashes lay not too far from her body, evidence of a Dark Creature's kill. I sighed as I turned her face, careful to touch her with my leather gloves only, and looked at her face.

Pale skin lay smoothly over high cheekbones, and full lips were pursed in a cry for help. In life, she would have been Hispanic, with a mix of European, maybe Russian. I sighed and straightened, mourning the dead, and silently thanking whoever had killed her killer.

I turned and walked away, pulling out my collapsed crossbow as I clicked the safety on my gun and slid it into the empty holster on my leg. Unfolding my crossbow, I slid a bolt behind my ear as I listened to the sound of a struggle down a dark alleyway. The unmistakable sound of fangs biting into flesh met my ears, and I loaded my crossbow with the bolt behind my ear as I stalked down the alleyway to the edge of the shadows, listening before I turned a corner and aimed.

An unconscious man lay in the corner, and a Vampire, head bent to feed from the man's attacker. I slowly let my crossbow down and left the alleyway. A moment later, the Vampire stepped up next to me. "You had a shot at a Vampire and a Non-Innocent. Why didn't you take it?" He asked.

"Because it's not my job to decide who lives and who dies based on what they may have or may not have done." I answered coldly, and he laughed.

"Amazing, a Hunter with a sense of morals."

"Amazing, a Vampire with a sense of decency." I retorted calmly. "Was there something you needed, or do you want to stalk me for some unknown reason?" I asked, and he laughed again.

"No, I think I'll keep my reason for following you quiet, at least for now. Have you ever been a Bounty Hunter instead of a Night Hunter?" He asked, and I gave contemptuous snort.

Bounty Hunters won't kill unless there's money involved, and often times, they're the ones who end up with the dirty jobs Night Hunters won't take on because it's too dangerous. No one trust a Bounty unless they've got them tied into knots with the lure of money. Night Hunters, on the other hand, will only take a job for a good reason. Money gets to be tight for Night Hunters, which is one of the reasons why families set up accounts for their children, so they always have something to dip into when they've hit a rough spot. The difference between Bounties and Hunters is the Hunters follow their words, and Bounties follow their money.

"Unlike whoever you deal with on a regular basis, I don't stoop low enough for the money." I snapped at the insult. "Morals aren't that uncommon in Hunters, the way money isn't uncommon with Vampires."

"Ooh, a feisty little Huntress."

"Humph." I snorted at him. "Did you need something or can I test my aim on you now?" I asked pointedly. He laughed at me again.

"Oh no, little Huntress, I think I'll take my leave of you. Before I leave your grace, however, I have an offer for you."

"One, you were never _in_ my grace, two, I'm not interested."

"Oh, but you haven't even heard what I have to offer. I thought you had morals."

"I do. They also include _not_ dealing with Vampires where it's avoidable." I snapped, and he laughed.

"Not a very good moral for you job, is it? At any rate, how would you feel about escorting a friend of mine from one place to another? It would only be a night, but I'm sure we can come up with a sum to smooth over your…_morals_." I was getting annoyed.

"Go bury yourself somewhere. I'm not interested, and no amount of money's going to change that." I found prudence in not saying 'bite me..' Even to the stupidest Vampires, that's an open invitation of blood, and the one time I'd said it had been more than enough to ban that phrase from my vocabulary.

He laughed and slipped something inside my shirt. I jumped and kicked out, but he was already gone, his lips a feather's width from my ear. "Call the number when you change your mind, Little Hutnress."

I swore and dug in my shirt for the damned card. Hissing curse, I tore the card into bits as I walked away, leaving a paper trail behind me, gleaming in the moonlight, leading to within three blocks of my apartment. From there, it started raining, soaking everything as I walked home, my weapons folded up, or stowed away. Another reason I avoided working with Vampires as much as I could—any time I did, it started raining.

Unlocking my front door, I slipped inside and did up the chain and dead-bolt again, swearing as water slid down over my skin. Stripping and changing, I sighed as I toweled my hair dry, and stood scowling in front of my mirror.

Full lips, pale and unaccustomed to any kind of embellishment, stood pursed against a backdrop of ivory-white skin, at faint contrast with silver-grey eyes. Streaks of darker grey wavered out from my ovular pupils. With every blink I could feel my long, thick lashes brushing against my high cheeks. Ink-black hair shimmered in the faint light, despite it's dampness, hugging my bare shoulders as one elegantly-fingered hand fussed with the strap on my pajama top. I was a typical Huntress—built to be enchantingly slim and agile, appearing innocent to the Vampires who sought out beauty, yet sturdy enough to take nine or ten pounds of force behind any given blow. Old bite marks from various incidents swirled across my skin, seeming to glow in strange iridescence, like scattered stars. A cluster stood out from underneath my sheer pant leg on my right hip.

I snorted and tossed the damp towel in the laundry. Some people might have seen something beneath my surface, the only thing I saw about myself was bloodstained hands and a desperately frozen heart. Looking at the clock I sighed as I realized it was yet another birthday—my nineteenth to be exact—an here I was, degrading myself to nothing more than a common Huntress.

For just a minute, turning away from the clock as it clicked over too 12:12, I wished for something—someone to spend the next year with. I sighed as I collapsed into my bed, leaving my covers where they were.

Outside my window, the wind blew past, sweeping up the little paper trail I'd made, and scattering it across the city, as dawn approached. Gilded streaks of sunlight across the area, blocked in some places by heavy black-out curtains, there for no other reason than to give the inhabitants of those places some darkness and sleep. No one noticed these places, because no one was supposed to. The beauty of humanity's rush for progress was that most of the time, they would never stop and look at the small details they missed in every day.

My last thought before I drifted to sleep was that I needed to think about getting the string on my crossbow checked before it snapped.

_A/N: Two things._

_One: Thanks to Aeieo for being my third reviewer for this chapter! _

_Two: I'm really bad at math, but even I know that the timing's _**really**_ off in this chapter with the 12:12 thing _after_ the midnight hour, but hey…never said how long after the midnight hour it was. _

_So, review, please. Three reviews and I update. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! _


	3. 02: Attention to Detail

Two: Attention to Detail

_A/N: Sorry, this one was kicking my butt when I tried to type it out. Please review and tell me what you think. Also sorry for the late update, I was not paying attention and missed the actual third review, so I apologize for that! I'll stay on top of it this time though, I promise._

Sipping on the lemonade as I worked on balancing my checkbook, I felt frustrated and impatient. I was starting to feel as though someone had tried very, very hard and desperately to make everything fall apart on me. My crossbow had snapped its strings when I needed it, I'd lost three knives to a werewolf and now my bank statements were coming up all screwy.

My day had not been particularly good, nor did it appear to be getting any better. My phone rang and I answered without looking at the number, something that would have saved me a lot of trouble had I bothered too. "Hamilton, Bethany." I answered.

"So it is true, that one of the best Huntresses in the Network refuses offers for money." The voice of the vampire from the other night mocked me across the phone. "You're really very hard to track down, Miss Hamilton. Oh, and please don't hang up just yet."

"Unless you have a good reason for interrupting my work, I'm hanging up in about five seconds." I snapped, and I could hear him chuckle.

"I'm sure balancing your account was something you wanted to keep doing." He must have been watching me to know that, and I whirled around, trying to find where he was. "Do calm down, I respect your privacy enough to only watch your kitchen window." I stood on my seat to look out at the darkening sky. Rooftops everywhere were littered with birds of all kinds.

"Where are you, you little rat?" I demanded, and shut the curtains.

"You won't find me, and the curtains won't help, not at this angle." He mocked. I hissed and hung up, taking my things to my room. Before or during the Midnight Hour, I was going to find and kill this Vampire, whether he liked it or not.

The phone rang again, and this time I checked the number before I answered. Thankfully it was one of my contacts, probably giving me word on a Vampire Operation.

"I already know your name, Beth, why do you insist on answering with your first and last name?" I hid my smile at the easy-going manner of the only shapeshifter anyone could trust, Shiri Aurelia.

"Glad to hear from you too, Shiri." I commented, and she laughed.

"I'm sure you are, you always like to take a break from the ordinary every now and again. I have something for you to take a look at when you get a chance by the way."

"Such as?" I asked, and she giggled this time.

"Oh, nothing much. Minor child-slavery operation in and out of the Vampire Society." She said cheerfully.

"Where at?" I asked another question, and she sighed.

"So serious about this, why would I be calling you if it wasn't near me? Besides that, I think there's something extra going on behind it, that may or may not concern a certain Hamilton family member." Something crashed in the background, and she sighed. "Hold that thought." She said, and I could hear the phone being set down as my brain turned over Shiri's words.

Outside of my two cousins—Anita and Annabella—I was the only Hamilton left, and even then, no one really counted my cousins, seeing as they were only _trained_ as Huntresses. They made a damn good team, but the problem was that they didn't have any of the other abilities Hunters in general have. Another point in fact, they also didn't share my last name, making them an anomaly—Human Huntresses, and twins at that.

Something about that bugged me though. Unless I'd have a younger sibling who'd been stolen and presumed dead, there was no way any of the Hamiltons would be involved in a Child Slavery ring. Although, knowing my parents and brother the way I had, it was entirely possible that this younger—or maybe it was older—sibling had been born with some defect, blind or deaf, and that had been the easiest way to deal with the problem.

That thought made my skin crawl as Shiri came back on the line.

"Where are you?" I asked her, snapping my thoughts back.

"Washington, Seattle to be exact." Shiri had never seen the point of hiding things when she could all too easily just get a hand on any secret in the world. The advantages of being a Feral Shapeshifter.

"I'll see you in a few days then." I said, and hung up to pack.

Something about the way Shiri had mentioned the slavery ring was bugging at me, and I felt my skin crawl as my thoughts turned back to the possibility that a younger sibling existed _somewhere_ out there.

_A/N: Okay, sorry for being so slow, and having such a short chapter, but there really wasn't a lot of information or detail I could put in here (hence the chapter title) so please, please review, tell me what you think! _


	4. 03: Bullets

Three: Bullets

_Author's note: Sorry, sorry, sorry for the previous chapter being so short! I know it was a miserable failure on my part, and I'm trying to make up for it this time around, so again, sorry!_

I have never been particularly fond of planes in any form, but I have found that it is still the fastest way to get across long distances. In this case, flying from the middle of New York City to Seattle, Washington, was not any more enjoyable than the last few times I have flown. The weather seemed to agree with me at least, because as I stepped off the plane and into the interior of the airport, the sky let loose a deluge of soaking, freezing rain.

Finding Shiri on the other hand, has never proved hard for me to do.

Today was definitely one of her better days, though it was still startling to see her looking like any other human, if a slightly slimmer than would have been healthy. Wearing her typical purple-and black clothing, she'd forgone her usual demi-form, and instead stood at her full human height of 5'4", though her boots probably had a hand in her height. Her signature two long strands had grown out since I'd seen her last and now lay somewhere around mid-stomach, held in place out of the rest of her hair by silver beads. Amber-red eyes sparked with amusement, and her smile showed off just slightly conical canine teeth. I'd seen her rip through full borne werewolves and lycans alike with hardly more than annoyance at the task, and knew she could instantly turn vicious. Her earrings still adorned her ears, whichever form she wandered in.

"Bethy!" As another form of what little trust I had in her, I was used to her reffering to me as 'Bethy,' no matter who we were in front of. I braced myself for the tackling hug I knew was coming, and she grinned as she almost pulled me to the floor.

"It's good to see you as well, Shiri." I commented, and she grinned again.

"Well, that's a matter of opinion, but likewise." She seemed to be glowing over something, and I looked her over again for whatever I'd missed.

"Something's changed." I noted, and she grinned.

"Yep, but that's for later." She said, and stretched, her gloved hands going high above her head. "At any rate, are you driving or am I?" I shrugged.

"Depends on which car you brought." I answered, and she smiled.

"I knew you'd say that." She handed me the keys to her mustang, knowing it was the only car of hers I'd drive, despite having licenses in most countries.

"The purple one, right?" She shrugged.

"When have I chose any other color?"

The drive itself was uneventful, save the excellent lightning display. Arriving at Shiri's loft, she grinned. "I take that back, there is one other thing that's changed, I own the building now." She said, and I blinked at the five-story building in front of us.

"I thought you were still working on the papers for your bar." I said, and she shrugged.

"Got those cleared out, and my landlady up and died, left the whole place to me since I was her only tenant." I blinked, and narrowed my eyes.

"You turned the downstairs into your bar, didn't you?" Shiri shrugged again, calmly admitting the facts.

"Well yeah, it's a little more economical this way." She said, and then jumped at the lightning over head. "In the mean time, why don't we get inside and get everything set up so no one start's raising eyebrows about you being here?"

The first two floors of the building had been (or were in the process of being) converted to an open bar. Shiri wasn't a stickler for rules very often, but her absolute refusal to let me into the second floor made me a little leery of the things she was selling, despite her instances that it was only because I was under 21. I suspect that her bar wasn't totally what it seemed right at first.

The lay out of the top three floors was simple enough to under stand. The first floor—technically the third floor—was an open lounge for relaxing and for general purposes. I could see heavy curtains over all the windows, and I knew it wasn't for Shiri's sake. She might have been a Dark creature, but she did like the sunlight. The fourth floor were living quarters, divided into four separate rooms, each with their own bathroom and walk in closet. Above each was a small loft-area, also with heavy curtains over all of the windows. I began to suspect things at that point.

Unpacking, I frowned at the odd lack of light in the room. It was strangely quiet as well. Shiri wasn't born into the world of shapeshifters, vampires and witches. As such, her human habits remained, even to the point where it became a physical fight for her to stop doing them. Shiri had always lived with her curtains open, and some music or the other going through the air, even when she'd only been renting. I frowned as I looked around at the apartment.

Few pictures hung on the wall, and the few that did, were strangely blurry. Looking around the room, something seemed to be hiding just slightly in the dark corner, and it caused my skin to chill and itch all over.

I turned at a faint sound, looking for something in the dark apartment. I really wasn't liking how dark it was, being overly used to almost having to wear sunglasses in Shiri's apartment. Seeing and hearing nothing there, I turned around again, one hand resting on the ever-present dagger in my belt loop. I couldn't explain why, but I was edgy, nervous and listening hard for something that I couldn't see or here.

I turned, the knife coming out of the loop as something growled and leapt at me from behind. I slammed into the floor as Shiri came pounding down the stairs, yelling in some language I couldn't understand. I suddenly knew why it was so dark in her apartment, and why so few pictures hung on the wall.

Shiri was housing a Shadow Vixen.

_A/N: Okay, please, please review. Thanks again to everyone who did review, anynomous or otherwise! Thanks you very, very much for all your support!_


	5. 04: Explanations and Patterns

Four: Explanations and Patterns

Four: Explain

I rolled out of the way as the Vixen leapt. A good twenty pounds of muscle and strength landed where my chest would have been. Shiri was still speaking in that strange language I couldn't understand, holding up one hand as she eased closer to the Vixen. The creature—manifestation, I had to remember that Shadow Vixens only showed where strong emotions could pull them from the shadows—snarled and hissed, and Shiri soothed it with a lilting word, edging it back into the shadows where it vanished. She kept whispering to the shadows, and they seemed to flow up the stairs as I stood up.

"Sorry about that, been dealing with a couple of things and forgot about that." Shiri said, and I raised an eyebrow.

"You are aware of how Shadow Vixens come to be, correct?" Shiri's back twitched slightly, and she nodded.

"Yeah, but trust me when I tell you it's not what you think." She said, and then leaned over to the upstairs door, shutting it and bolting it. A low mournful growl filled the air, and I felt my eyebrows go up higher.

"Shall I ask what it is then?" I questioned her carefully, and she shook her head.

"No, don't ask, you probably don't really want to know." She said quietly, and then shook it off. "Look, I'll ask for help when I need it. Help me with the Slavery Ring, alright? Let me handle a lonely little Shadow Vixen." I narrowed my eyes at her, wondering if her affinity for foxes was going a little overboard here.

I sighed and shrugged. "As long as you don't start growing any extra tails on me, I'll leave you and your Shadow Vixen alone." She hugged me with a happy yip, and I had to smile, however grudgingly. Sometimes I wondered what I would do without the four-tailed shapeshifter hugging me.

Later, while Shiri was cooking, I typed in the information I needed into my basic sheet. I didn't work very well on assigned jobs without at least something to look at. Behind me, I could hear the faint yips of the Vixen, and I felt a faint shudder. I'd seen the destruction they could do to a person, whether they were the cause of the Vixen or not.

Shadow Creatures worked solely on how easy it would be to feed of an unhappy person. Vixens, like the one that was currently shut behind Shiri's upstairs door, were some of the worst Shadow Creatures to end up having. Every Vixen needed something different, and was attracted to that one thing, sometimes going far away from their original food sources to find newer, fresher people to feed from. I supposed that once a person got past the Vixen's need to feed on unhappy or painful emotions, it's honestly not that bad.

Personally, I didn't care for solid forms of dark creatures anyways, much less ones that fed off strong emotions.

Dinner was finished, and Shiri set a plate down next to my laptop, and I finally glanced up from my thoughts. "Thank you." I said, and she shrugged.

"Welcome. What've you got so far?" Once again, she was able to push her play away for work.

"Not very much to go on, much less find out the main operating ring." I said, swiveling the laptop to face her. "Seattle doesn't usually have just one ring of anything, Vampiric or otherwise." She skimmed the information on screen, looking over the basic information I'd typed up.

"Hmm, I can't say it'll shed much light on the subject, but I know the Smiths are in pretty deep with this ring." She said, swallowing a sip of her water. I felt a wince, thinking about dealing with a full blown Vampire House. Then again, if Shiri was willing to help me, it would be an easy mater to handle at least a few of the more powerful players.

"How do you know?" I asked her instead, and she gave me a look.

"How do I ever know anything? Honestly, Beth, sometimes I think you turn your head off to the various misdemeanors of the world." She said with a faint growl. I held up my right hand in defense, my left involved in capturing noodles.

"My apologies, I try not to pry into your private life. I've noticed it tends to keep you out of mine." I said, and she laughed.

"Point, but I don't think it's time to call it case just yet." She noted, and then frowned. "Hold that thought, you remember how I said I thought there was something extra going on _behind_ the ring. I think I can see a pattern with this and another ring." She typed something into the computer, then turned it back around so I was facing a web page article, typed by another contact, a Witch by the name of Lila Ahlen. Even Dark Creatures wanted to know what was going on in their world.

**Drug Ring Holds Captives**

_Saturday, an elusive drug ring was brought down by a smaller werewolf pack over a territory battle. Having found their main storehouse, the pack was startled to find no less than fifteen young Vampire fledglings, all freshly turned. Several older gargoyles were also among the captives, and explained that they were being used as a 'security force' for the Drug Lords, only one of whom was non-human. _

_At the time of the operations, it appears that a Rogue Vampire made contact with several human Drug Lords, and thus captured their attention with a gift of his one fledgling. The fledgling, Alyssa Marina has been dead for the past six months due to unknown factors, though it is suspected she was forced to give her blood. The Rogue, now in custody, showed no remorse for the woman, and openly laughed at the pack._

_It is suspected that the drug rung was a cover for a slavery ring going in an out of Seattle, stretching almost the entire way to London, England. _

_No other information was released by the pack, though several hinted at an effort to train the fledglings as companions to the pack. The Gargoyles have been returned to their rightful places above St. Matthew's church, and three of the fifteen fledglings have been taken in by the Howles family. _

I leaned back in my chair, swallowing a few last noodles. The fact that the gargoyles had been held for so long was startling. I'd hurt through the Network's own channels about something vaguely familiar, but hadn't been able to take a closer look at because of something else. Still, if you looked at the things going on, several other rings could easily cover slavery rings.

So what was the slavery ring covering?

"It definitely brings up an interesting point. There's been a couple of patterns in several other rings, but if this ring is just a cover-up for something else, wouldn't they have used another ring to cover this one as well?" I asked finally, and she shrugged.

"Dunno, but it brings up a question: who's really running the ring?" She said. "If it's a drug lord, no problem, a couple of messy incidents can be arranged, and then we loosen up the rest of the ring. If it's a Vampiric House, you know who we're going to have to call." I grimaced at the notion of calling _any_ Vampires, much less someone from the Montoya family. The one incident that had forced Shiri and I to call a Vampire had ended in serious disaster, and taken out a large chunk of New York's Underground. I was not in a hurry to repeat the incident.

"Alright, we'll find out first, then we'll start seeing if we have to call in a Montoya or if we can handle it ourselves." I said finally, and she nodded, clearing our empty plates.

"Well then, I suppose we'd better get some sleep, it's almost dawn and we're going to have to go out and wander in the sun to find the approriate clothes for our little job." I bit back a groan.

Leave it to Shiri to find a reason to be up and about during the daylight hours.

_A/N: Okay, okay, so it's not exactly my finest, but just review here people! I accept anynomous reviews for a reason! Which brings me to my next point: I'm changing the number of reviews before I update to five, because it's driving me CRAZY with how fast everyone's reviewing._

_So, to recap so far in this story before we start getting into the insanity: Bethany's been offered a job posistion by a stalker Vampire, she's been called to Seattle, Washington, to help a friend with a Slavery Ring, and both she and Shiri are seeing patterns in this ring and several others. _

_So...what happens next?  
_


	6. 05: Fruit Bats

Five: Fruit Bats

I sighed as Shiri grinned at me, once again wandering the rooftops in her Demi-Form. Two large, black and purple fox ears stood out above her head, and four black and purple foxtails swished as she walked along the edge of a sunroof. As usual, her fox ears were adorned with her earrings, while her human ears were nowhere to be found. "Must you act so hyper?" I asked as she did a neat little flip off the sunroof and onto the lower roof. She grinned at me holding out her gloved hands.

"I'm a fox, its part of my nature to get hyper before doing anything serious." She said in a cheerful tone. I sighed again, and shook my head as I double-checked the safety on my gun.

"At any rate, how sure can we be that they'll come after this girl?" I asked, nodding at the lit window of a girl we had chosen to watch for the night. She shrugged.

"Well, considering they've gone after similar types to her, she's got just the faintest air of charisma around her, and they've been following her for the past month, I'd say we've got about a 70-30 chance of being right." She said and then did a cartwheel across the edge of the roof, which made me nervous.

"I see." I said, watching as she straightened and then did a somersault off the railing and landed on a cardboard box. "What time does this group usually come and grab their slaves?" I asked, glancing down the street to prevent looking at the shapeshifter.

"Just before Midnight's actually over." She said cheerfully. "Easiest time, less Hunters to worry about. 'Course, also means we get caught doing this and our asses are going to be grass under the Council's lawnmower, but that's beside the point." I decided not to mention that she wasn't helping any, and instead chose to turn my thoughts to the council.

The Vampiric Council was the ruling fist of Vampire Society. While their head member—someone from the Santino family if I remembered correctly—was the one who ultimately got to decide if a Hunter had crossed the line or not in the line of their job. I hadn't come against the Council, thankfully, though I had come close enough to that line more than enough times. I'd seen Hunters handed over to their worst Vampire Enemies for less than what Shiri and I were doing. The Council would be harsher on Shiri because she was a shapeshifter, meaning she had to abide by the same laws as all other Dark Creatures, despite the fact they hardly cared for her because she couldn't claim a family or bloodline.

The thought of what they could and would do to her made me shudder. Deep in my thoughts, I almost missed the slight movement under the girl's window. "Hey, Shiri, what's that?" I asked, and she landed on her feet from where she'd been balancing on her hands to look.

"My, my, getting started early, aren't they?" She asked, watching them. "And I'll be damned. It's a shapeshifter." She said, as a large orange lizard scaled the wall and climbed through the open window. If the shapeshifter had been such a violent shade of orange, I would've missed him against the dark bricks with my eyesight, though Shiri would've spotted him a mile away.

"Explains how they get them in and out without anyone noticing. Quick bite in Demi-Form, and they've got a temporary shapeshifter on their hands." I noted as the girl's light went out. Shiri checked her watch.

"Five minutes ahead of usual schedule." She said, and I nodded as she shifted into a full fox form and climbed into the backpack I was wearing, designed for her. I zipped up the bag and then stood on the edge of the roof.

"Ready for some turbulence?" I asked, and she yipped softly in the back before I jumped.

Landing on the ground softly, I strolled across the street calmly, ignoring the sting of a bruise on my knee. One of these days I was going to break something jumping off a building.

Walking into the shadowed alleyway, I let Shiri out, and she shifted into her Demi-Form again . "Think you can get us up there?" I asked, indicated the one narrow ladder that served as fire escape. She wrinkled her nose at the height, then sighed.

"I can try. Back up, I don't want to fall on you if I miss. You might survive jumping off a building, but I tend to bite." She said, and coiled as I backed up.

She didn't miss, and with a loud clang, the ladder slid down. We waited several tense minutes before she climbed up the ladder behind her. She reached the right window, and—dangling precariously from the ladder, grabbed the sill and pulled herself up into the window. A moment later, she reached out and pulled me through as well. One of the nice things about being a shapeshifter was that your strength was deceiving. No matter how soft she might appear, Shiri was anything but, able to lift well over three times her weight and through it a good distance.

The room was dark, though my eyes had no problem seeing anything. A lamp, closed laptop and several textbooks lay on the girl's desk, and an open closet door revealed a laundry hamper and clothes hanging neatly. She slept in the bed, silent. And on the wall across from us, a horribly orange lizard clung to the wall, before shifting into an orange-haired, lizard-tailed man who hissed at us.

"It's Midnight Hour, Huntress, you can't touch me." His voice was that of a lizard's as well, and I shrugged.

"Wasn't planning too, that's why she's here." Shiri smiled at him, her four tails waving lightly.

"Lizards are fun to chase." He hissed at her as well, and jumped off the wall, landing lightly on the floor.

"Neither of you can touch me if I'm hunting prey." I laughed here.

"Really? What would a Lizard be doing hunting _human_ prey, unless you're looking for another slave to recruit, or you've suddenly discovered a need to start passing around the shapeshifter gene." I said acidly. "If that's the case, you might want to hurry up before her parents wake up."

He hissed again, and I saw Shiri's ear twist back, listening to the sounds filtering in through the open window, and frowning. "Hmm, odd, sounds like someone's climbing a wall, but they're not shapeshifter or Hunter." She frowned, listening harder to it. "Not Witch either…scent says they're human." Something clicking in my mind.

"One or two?" I asked, and she frowned.

"Sounds say two, scent says one." I felt cold suddenly. This was about to get nasty.

The lizard shapeshifter hissed and lunged at me. I swore and ducked out of the way, landing heavily on the floor. The thud as Shiri and the Lizard started wrestling woke up the girl and her parents. I smashed the lamp, knowing that the two Dark Creatures would be able to see in the dark, but that the light from the hall wouldn't be enough for the humans to see into the room as I tossed the window all the way open and pulled my cousins through.

Huntresses, even human ones, have learned not to ask questions when they're given sudden help from an Alli. This held true now as Anita pulled the girl out of her bed as the Lizard leapt, having thrown Shiri into wall. With an angry yelp, Shiri leapt, and they wrestled some more. Annabella hit the floor when they collided with her and hissed as a bat swept into the room. I checked my watch and gave a silent hiss as the bat shifted into yet another person. The three Hunters in the room still had another fifteen minutes before they could render any aid, which left Shiri in a spot of trouble as the Bat dove for her.

Shiri rolled away, and shook herself, snarling at the other two shapeshifters. "Come along, cousin, there's no need to fight over prey. We can all share the girl." The Bat said softly to Shiri, whose warning snarl went up in pitch, then changed abruptly to a whistle.

The Shadow Vixen whined and leapt, knocking the Lizard out the window as Shiri lunged herself, slamming the bat into the wall.

Cursing, the Bat ripped away from Shiri, leaving a good chunk of his wing behind as he shifted and flew out the window. Shiri swore as she got to her feet again. "Fucking fruit bats. I don't care if the Vampire Bats drink blood, fruit bats hurt like hell." She hissed and we all turned when we heard a soft chuckle.

"My, my, Bethany, you turn down money and still take the job." I glared at the Vampire who'd been bugging me still.

"Shut the hell up and go the fuck away." I snarled, and he laughed.

"Now then, since you _did_ finish the job, and Leah's still quite safe with her parents. How much do I owe you?" He asked me. My breath hissed out behind my teeth as the twins exchanged glances.

"Wait, wait, let us get this straight _real_ quick. Julius told us all to keep _her_ safe, right?" I turned to look at one of the brown haired-green eyed, sprawled twins, who had jerked a thumb at the girl.

"Unless you and Ana were given different instructions than I was, yes." He answered calmly, and Anita nodded, sucking on the inside of her cheek.

"So you went to find a Hunter, and some how you found _Bethany?_" Annabella asked, and he shrugged.

"She's efficient, wary and she has morals." He said. "Julius told me to find someone along those lines, and this is what I found." He said, and both the twins laughed as they stood up.

"Nathaniel, I think you're missing the point. It's _Bethany._" Anita said with a laugh, and I shot her a look.

"Thank you, Miss Obvious." I said sarcastically.

"Sorry, but she's right. Bethany, the horror stories we hear about you half the time turn out to be _real._ Hell, the thought of coming against you gives Zachariah nightmares, and he's been Julius's bodyguard for the past six centuries." Annabella said, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, Mr. Stewart, I hate to interrupt, but shouldn't Mr. Santino explain this to her himself?" All eyes turned to Leah, who was being protectively sheltered between her parents. Nathaniel thought about it.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea, Leah. So, shall we take one car, or would you and Miss Aurelia prefer to follow separately?"

I was really starting to hate this Vampire.

_A/N: Okay, five reviews please! I'll update when I have five reviews, so please, please review!_


	7. 06: Demons and Deals

Six: Demons and Deals

_A/N: Okay, please, please, please forgive me. I know, I'm severely late on the update, and I apologize for that, I got really busy and sidetracked and so…yeah, I fail, and I know it. I'm really sorry, I know I didn't reply to everyone's review, so I will try and fix that on this chapter! Thank you all for being so patient!_

I was not impressed with the security around Julius Santino. In fact, I found it downright laughable, looking at the four of the five people supposed to be guarding him. Anita and Annabella were easy to handle, but Human Huntresses always are. Nathaniel Stewart—the vampire who had originally offered me the job—struck me more as an observer than as an actual bodyguard. I'd landed on my back one too many times however, to discount him just yet. Zachariah Rinehart, on the other hand, was the only one who seemed to be capable of doing his job.

And if what Anita and Annabella had said was true, it really wasn't going to be that hard to deal with him.

"This is a security force?" Shiri voiced my opinions, one ear flicked back, the other standing half erect. Anita wrinkled her nose at that.

"It's not supposed to be a formal thing." She argued, and Shiri raised an eyebrow.

"Really? 'Cause even for a casual one, it seems fairly…_inadequate,_ to say the least." Nathaniel smiled.

"Yes, well, Miss Aurelia, we weren't chosen to strap ourselves down with weapons, save for Ana and Anita." He said, deferring to Annabella first. I could tell those two were up to their old tricks just from that one sentence.

"Instead you were chosen to keep him alive from what? You're all to lean, it's ridiculous. None of you have enough stamina to keep up several days of fighting." Shiri laughed. "Face it, you're nothing more than a pack of worthless lap dogs." She spat.

"Is something wrong out here?" I sensed Vampire, directly behind me, and turned on instant reaction, half swinging into a crouch and knocking the Vampire to the gound in a smooth motion from my foot. He winced as he hit the ground. "Never mind, Nathaniel, I can tell that once again you have done you job just a little too well." He said as he straightened up. I regarded him coolly out of narrowed eyes. He frowned at hem, then followed the faint line of an old scar showing above my collar to somewhere in my shirt.

His short black hair was long enough to flow just past to top of his ears. Deep, sapphire eyes moved constantly, taking in my appearance, then flicking over my shoulder to where one of his 'guards' had moved slightly. A faint head shake warned them off, and they settled once more. Clearly, a strong leader, clean-shaven and with smooth features. His eyes locked with mine, and I felt my gaze narrow even more automatically. Vampires have two talents, I couldn't tell what either of his were, but I was not taking chances with hypnotism here.

"Bethany Hamilton I presume?" It might have been a question, but we both knew it wasn't. This was bad, especially since I was no good at word games.

"Perhaps." I answered.

"I apologize for Nathaniel's stubborn crudity on my behalf." _Liar._ I thought harshly,

"I'm sure you do." I said instead, and a faint smile curved his lips.

"Perhaps we can clear out some of this animosity between the two of us, Miss Hamilton. Zachariah, Nathaniel, Anita, Ana, you are all dismissed. Nathaniel if you could please entertain Miss Aurelia for a few moments while we clear some things up?" I glanced behind me. Neither Nathaniel nor Shiri looked happy at the suggestion.

"Of course, Sir." Nathaniel said with a faint bow as the silver-haired Zachariah slipped past and into some other room. Talking quietly between them, Anita and Annabella slipped up the stairs.

"If you'd like to come into the kitchen, Miss Hamilton?" He asked, gesturing to a door just behind me. I stepped aside and motioned for him to go first. He smiled at me, and I could see him noting my prudence at not leaving a Vampire at my back.

I stood at one end of the counter; from there I was able to watch everything in the kitchen, and part of the two hallways leading out. I wanted this conversation to be over so that Shiri and I could go back to working on the Ring. He smiled faintly at me, looking worn and tired for an instance. I blinked once, slowly, knowing the key to dealing with any Vampire is never to blink unless you are forced to.

"Miss Hamilton, I understand that Nathaniel was slightly abrupt with you, correct?" I gave a short nod, and he settled himself, leaning against the other end of the counter, near the refrigerator. "I apologize, again for this. I was not aware that he would attempt to hire the famed Bethany Hamilton, top of the Network Huntresses."

"I'll admit I'm good, but I'm far from the top." I answered curtly, cutting across his flattery. His smile quirked, and I could practically read his thoughts on his face. This was about to turn into a quick display of word games, something I have rarely been good at.

"And yet, out of all the Huntresses, you are the only one that even the Prince's guards fear to encounter in some dark alley."

"If they fear me, then clearly they are idiots." I answered. "I'm just a Huntress, helping out a contact."

"I notice you don't say 'friend,' though that is what you mean."

"I'm a Huntress, friends are luxuries I don't have." I responded, and his smile quirked a little higher. My eyes were starting to feel uncomfortably watery, and I knew that if I didn't blink or move my gaze soon, I was going to be at a serious disadvantage. He gave me no reason to blink or to shift my gaze however, locking his sapphire eyes on my silver ones instead, testing my determination.

"Yet that is what you consider Miss Aurelia."

"Is there a reason you wanted to discuss this?" I asked abruptly, cutting the formalities sharply.

"Surprisingly, no, but I like to know who I'm hiring before I enlist their aid." I almost blinked at that.

"Excuse me?" He smiled, shifting to the other end of the island, finally allowing my gaze to move.

"I require your aid, Miss Hamilton, in shutting down a slavery ring. Leah, a dear servant to my brother, has become a target to this ring, a threat they don't dare allow out int the streets much longer. We know this ring is covering something else, however, we don't know what. Since you and Miss Aurelia seem to have already come across this ring, there seems to be no problem for either of you to help my staff and I take care of this problem." He sounded over confident, as though this was not something to discuss.

"No. I already told your _bodyguard _I wasn't taking his offer, that remains."

"We can discuss any manner of payment you'd like." He countered.

"No."

"Upwards of eight thousand dollars.

"No."

"A car, perhaps a permanent residence?"

"No."

"A new identity, away from Hunting?"

"No."

"What would you like in that case?" His eyes flicked to the hallway on the other side of my head. I turned, and stared down the hallway, seeing nothing. I turned back to him.

"The only thing I want is for you to leave me alone." I answered.

"Sure that's not the only thing, Miss Hamilton." That was starting to get on my nerves, the way he spoke my name, as if it wasn't rolling off his tongue quiet right. .

"Surprisingly, it is." I snapped.

"Fine then, I'll make a deal with you. If you help me on this one task, I'll leave you eight thousand in your account, the keys to a new car, and you'll never hear from anyone I know or employ unless you come asking."

I was sorely tempted. I could almost taste it, smell the interior of the car, and easily see the new numbers on my depleted account. I was horrifyingly tempted to take that offer, so much so that it took me a minute to realize I had blinked, just once.

He was closer to me, and I took a startled step back, hitting the wall. "And in addition, I can arrange for a copy of certain medical records to be sent to you concerning an Isabelle Hamilton."

"I've never heard of her." He smiled, his slightly elongated fangs gleaming in the fading moonlight.

"Then I suppose you'll have to take my offer, won't you?" He asked. "After the job is completed, if you decide you would like to make a clean break from the Network, say the word and I will personally find you a new identity, Bethany Hamilton." That sent chills down my spine and I knew he could see it, despite wearing long sleeves and a jacket. He smiled.

"Deal."


End file.
